ב"ה

Va'etchanan 5765 - August 19, 2005

Galut, 2005

Today, Jewish soldiers shatter Jewish hearts (both others' and their own) while Arabs dance in a CNN Special Report from the Gaza Strip
Parshah
Va’etchanan in a Nutshell
In which Moses implores G‑d, describes the Exodus and the giving of the Torah, predicts Israel’s abandonment and return to G‑d, and summarizes the fundamentals of the Jewish faith.
Da'at

Why do we become a bar mitzvah at adolescence? Because something dramatic happens to our minds at this time: A sort of awakening, a consciousness, a realization that "I exist"
Story
Nothing Else

"It's considered perfectly natural," Reb Binyomin defended himself, "if one's mind wanders off to the Leipzig Fair during prayer; so what's so terrible if a thought about the unity of G-d infiltrates the mind while doing business?"
Current
Picking a Judge: A Few Supreme Questions

Is he a liberal or a conservative? What's her position on issue X? ... Or should we be asking an entirely different set of questions?
Living
Fasten Your Mask

The part about the oxygen masks always gets to me...
Consoling Mourners

How is comparing the loss of a loved one to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans two thousand years ago supposed to make me feel any better?
The 15th of Av: Love and Rebirth
Our sages proclaimed the 15th of Av as one of the happiest days of the year, when Jewish maidens would go out to dance, hoping to attract fitting suitors.
Fix yourself up first, and then fix up others
— Talmud, Bava Metzia 107b
Print Magazine

Don’t waste a good sin.

“All that G‑d does is good, even the wicked person on the day of his wickedness.” (Proverbs 16:4)

Why did a G‑d who hates evil create a world where evil can take charge of a human being?

Only so that this human being would be driven yet higher than could ever be reached without sin.

Return out...